450 starts easily shock!

[iancp5]

My 06 450 always started but needed to follow a certain process. Just recently it started smoking so I had the head off to replace the valve guide seals. Whilst it was apart I did 2 other jobs - I replaced the piston just because it was apart and I set the valve clearances. I also happened to find that the plug cap requires the little screw top to be on the plug to fit tight. However the CR8E's seem to come without them and the plug that was in there didn't have one. So I fitted a new plug with little screw piece.

The result is the bike now starts easily with no games of playing with the throttle. So I'm beginning to wonder if these bikes are very sensitive to valve clearances or the spark cap / plug was the issue.

[JRDoz]

I would remove the screw part on the spark plug again and retest.. You would then be able to tell the difference and know if it was the cause !

[ggg]

Originally Posted by iancp5

My 06 450 always started but needed to follow a certain process. Just recently it started smoking so I had the head off to replace the valve guide seals. Whilst it was apart I did 2 other jobs - I replaced the piston just because it was apart and I set the valve clearances. I also happened to find that the plug cap requires the little screw top to be on the plug to fit tight. However the CR8E's seem to come without them and the plug that was in there didn't have one. So I fitted a new plug with little screw piece.

The result is the bike now starts easily with no games of playing with the throttle. So I'm beginning to wonder if these bikes are very sensitive to valve clearances or the spark cap / plug was the issue.

I replaced the same plug you talk of to the newer one with the cap, no difference but a tighter fit on the lead, my guess is new pistion/rings and reset valve clearances has more to do with a better starting bike.

[desmoss]

I noticed that on my 07 FSR450 that the coil/plug cap is a loose fit even with the plug screw cap on! it doesnt seem to be friction fit, the only contact to plug is from the top and held by coil pack friction fit into valve cover.

Is this normal? but my bike is running fine.

[speeddemon]

I just tried on my halley450 09 model to see if there was a difference in fit with the plug scew cap on and it does fit tighter with it on . Runs a little smoother in idle now. Thanks for the tip .